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August 22nd, 2012:

The Kulluk Leaves Dutch Harbor for the Beaufort Sea

Shell Oil Pushes Ahead with Arctic Drilling: The Kulluk Leaves Dutch Harbor for the Beaufort Sea

Rhonda McBride11:14 p.m. AKDT, August 21, 2012 ANCHORAGE, Alaska—

Shell Oil could be gambling big with its latest move. Its Kulluk drilling ship left Dutch Harbor on Monday, heading to the Arctic on an uncertain journey. Shell says its second ship, the Noble Discoverer, should also leave Dutch Harbor sometime this week.

Despite this, federal permits are not yet in hand to drill individual wells — and an oil spill response barge, the Arctic Challenger, sits in a Bellingham, Washington shipyard. Drilling cannot begin until it’s stationed in the Arctic. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Demand an end to Shell’s human rights abuses‏

EMAIL CIRCULATED BY PLATFORM LONDON.ORG DEMANDS AN END TO SHELL’S HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:24:21 +0100
Subject: Demand an end to Shell’s human rights abuses
From: [email protected]
To:

Dear friends,

Over the past 48 hours, Shell’s active role in human rights abuses in Nigeria has been exposed in a new Platform briefing: Dirty Work: Shell’s Security Spending in Nigeria. The briefing analyses financial data from Shell’s security department, leaked to Platform by a concerned ex-Shell manager.    The leaked data covers three bloody years of conflict in the Delta between 2007 and 2009. It reveals Shell’s deep financial links to human rights abusers in the Niger Delta, including soldiers, militants and other armed groups who perpetrated human rights abuses during this period. Shell’s data leak shows that people within Shell feel deeply uncomfortable about the devastating social impact of its operations.   So far, we’ve had an overwhelming response. We made frontpage news in the Guardian, as well as reports by Reuters and AFP (see round up below). We gave several live TV interviews on Al-Jazeera (watch both here). The story has caught Twitter by storm and has been constantly tweeted about since Sunday night.   But we can do much more.    Our friends at the US online action site for corporate accountability, Sum Of Us, have launched an e-action demanding that Shell stop funding armed conflict and human rights abuses in Nigeria. Please add your name to their action. Together, we can hold Shell to account for its abuses.   This is a historic moment to demand that Shell stops pouring money into the hands of human rights abusers. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is currently whether or not to require big oil, gas and mining companies to disclose the payments they make on a country and project level. Shell has enormous payments to hide in Nigeria, and is lobbying hard to defeat these legal changes.    Let’s demand an end to what writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa called the “slick alliance” between oil companies and the repressive regime in Nigeria.   As soldiers from Nigeria’s Joint Task Force (JTF) continue to deny human rights and block environmental justice, we stand firm in our opposition to the militarisation of the Niger Delta. Furthermore, we are appalled at the decision of the UK government and its allies to provide escalating levels of military aid to Nigeria to ‘secure’ Shell’s oil fields.   Please share this story with anyone who may be interested.   With your support, we can push back against the oil giant’s harmful activities.   In hope,

Ben, Mel, Kevin, Mika, Emma and the Platform team

Platform | http://platformlondon.org/   Tel: +44(0)207 403 3738, +44(0)207 357 0055 Platform is on facebook and twitter @platformlondon

Recent media coverage:

AFP, Shell paid Nigeria millions to guard oil facilities: group

Guardian, Shell spending millions of dollars on security in Nigeria, leaked data shows

Telegraph, Shell ‘paying tens of millions to Nigerian security forces

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Shell spends $383m on security in Niger Delta read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Royal Dutch Shell flags Australian cost pressure

By Ross Kelly

SYDNEY–A senior Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDS.B -0.08% executive said Wednesday the cost of building energy projects in Australia is becoming “very worrisome” as the European oil giant prepares to decide whether it will spend billions more dollars in the resource-rich nation.

Shell has already committed almost US$30 billion to Australian gas-export projects being built over the next five years. The company’s Australian head, Ann Pickard, said the figure is poised to become US$50 billion if final decisions are made on other projects that Shell has on the drawing board. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Arctic rig departs, Shell meets with US regulators on change of plans

Alex DeMarban | Aug 21, 2012

Attempting to salvage a shortened drilling season in the Arctic, Royal Dutch Shell is working with federal regulators on a plan that might allow it to do some preparatory drilling soon, according to Financial Times. In anticipation, on Monday Shell’s drilling rig, the Kulluk, departed Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Islands, heading for Arctic waters.

Europe’s largest oil company had hoped to be drilling in the US Arctic Ocean in July, but it now appears it’ll be lucky if it’s drilling next month. Shell had originally hoped to drill up to five wells in the Arctic’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas this season, but the company has scaled back plans to just one to two wells. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Canada to go ahead with Kitimat LNG projects despite billion-dollar Chinese gas investment

By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun: August 21, 2012

Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to invest $1 billion a year in shale gas exploration in China has not changed Shell Canada’s plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at Kitimat aimed at the Chinese market.

Despite China’s potential for shale gas production, demand there is expected to outstrip supply, Shell Canada said Tuesday in a statement.

“The exploration and development of shale gas is expected to grow in China and Shell’s investments, largely with PetroChina, are reflective of that growth,” Shell Canada spokesman Stephen Doolan said. “However, the demand for energy in China and throughout Asia is expected to exceed domestic production. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.